Antislip cam

ABSTRACT

An antislip cam adapted to be releasably attached to a boot or shoe for walking on snow or ice-covered ground, including a plate fastened to the shoe and having the cam movably connected thereto for being positioned in operative or inoperative relationship relative to the ground.

United States Patent Johann We; Kruseweg 10. 6060 Absam. Tyrol, Austria [21] Appl. No. 859,019

[72} inventor [22] Filed Sept. 18, 1969 [45] Patented July 27, 1971 [32] Priority Sept. 19, 1968 [33] Austria [31] A 9129/68 [54] ANTISLIP CAM 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 36/61 [51] Int. Cl A43c 15/00 [50] Field of Search 36/61, 62.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,206,653 11/1916 Beard 36/61 1,433,660 10/1922 Shimko.. 36/61 1,565,290 12/1925 Noel 36/61 2,182,737 12/1939 Petruzates 36/61 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-George H. Krizmanich Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen ABSTRACT: An antislip cam adapted to be releasably attached to a boot or shoe for walking on snow or ice-covered ground, including a plate fastened to the shoe and having the cam movably connected thereto for being positioned in operative or inoperative relationship relative to the ground.

XNTI'SLIP CAM This invention relates to an antislip cam adapted to be releasably fixed to the boot or shoe for walking on ground covered with ice or hard snow, comprising a plate provided with upstanding sidewalls having slits for passing through fixing elements, wherein said cam is selectively swung into or out of the operative position and is locked in said end positions.

Above all in the country, conditions of paths and roads in winter and transition periods are often varying; they can be hardly met with usual footwear. Road portions free of snow and ice are often followed up by portions covered with ice or slippery snow; this occurs above all where daily solar radiation does not melt away but only slightly soften the solid precipitation; then this smush freezes again overnight, forming a par ticularly slippery surface which is liable to cause heavy falls. Mountain paths too, in particular when wood is drifted over their snowy surface, prove extremely slippery and mostly cannot be walked on without special auxiliary means.

In order to meet these difficulties the use of more or' less heavy climbing irons is known. They are usually firmly strapped around the boot leg by means of straps or bands, which is not easily done with stiff fingers due to the cold; moreover, these straps or bands have to be removed with like difficulties on road portions free of ice, since walking on the sharp tips of the climbing irons proves extremely difficult there. Thus road portions liable to cause heavy falls are often walked on without any auxiliary devices, which often brings about accidents involving serious injuries.

Thus, an antislip device is needed which, once attached to the shoe or boot, may remain there without necessitating any removal and is adapted to be brought into operative position or into resting position by simple hand grips which are easily performed even with great cold, in accordance with varying soil conditions. Such a device is adapted to be applied at any time on a slippery surface and to be easily removed, if road conditions-even in winter-permit normal footwear and the tips of the irons would be inconvenient.

This problem is solved according to the invention in that the pivot axle, if necessary adjustable in length, comprising an adjustable lever for pivoting the cam, is arranged on the plate, which is firm or adjustable in breadth, as known in itself, ex-

tending above or below said plate. Whether said pivot axle is arranged above or below the bottom surface of said plate predominantly depends on the heel height of the user. Thus the antislip cams according to the invention for ladies boots with usually higher heels will have pivot axles below said plate, while they will be conveniently arranged above said plate with mens boots.

A plate of the invention adjustable in breadth may consist, for example, of two parts adapted to be slided on above the other, one of which has downward screw bolts which are engaged in longitudinal slots of the other part firmly locked by nuts, wherein the pivot axle lying below said plate and mounted in one of the two parts of said plate consists of a bolt, the one end of which projecting from the hearing has the form of an adjustable grip and the other is provided with a screw thread with wing nuts or the like put on it, said ends firmly locking said cam in any desired position by clamping at the outsides of the bearings.

There are various methods of locking said cam in operative position or any other position. For example, said pivot axle ar ranged below said plate may be of tetragona! section between the two bearings, wherein it may be locked by inserting a lock bolt pivotally fixed on said plate between its chamfered part and said plate. A further embodiment within the scope of the invention provides an adjustable lever arranged on the part of the axle unilaterally projecting from the bearing below said plate which is engaged in openings in the upstanding plate part by means of a bolt pushed through said adjustable lever.

The bolt may also have the fonn of a hinge pin to be locked in the openings by spring load. If a screw bolt is used, it may be screwed in a screw thread on the adjustable lever so as to be fixed in the openings of the upstanding plate part, said bolt thus engaging in the openings when leaving said lever. Such a bolt would be released by counterrotation and the adjustable.

lever could be swung.

A convenient embodiment of the invention provides a stop device with openings or slits to be engaged in bolts projecting from the upstanding plate part on the free end of an adjustable lever arranged on the axle part unilaterally projecting from the bearing below said plate, said stop device being adjustable against the action; of a coiled spring pushed on said lever.

A still more convenient embodiment consists in that the adjustable lever itself consists of resilient material. In this case, an L-shaped lug may be arranged on the upstanding part of a plate side, said lug forming an U open at the top together with the adjacent plate part, the upper edge said lug being chamfered at its outsides so as to form notches in which the adjustable lever may be fengaged. Manufacturing and material costs of such a construction with a resilient adjustable lever may be still reduced in that the upstanding part of the plate is chamfered outwards instead of proving a lug on said plate, a slit adapted to push through the fixing elements being provided in the horizontal strip of the plate thus formed. Like in the aforesaid example, the outer edge may be chamfered so as to form notches in which the resilient adjustable lever firmly connected to said pivot axle engages, thus firmly holding said cam arranged on said axle.

Further details of the invention are hereinafter described with reference to a number of embodiments, without the invention beinglimited to them.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment in diagrammatic view, in which the antislip cam of the invention may be adapted to various boot breadths.

FIG. I,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are a front view and a bottom view, respectively, of a further embodiment of the invention,

FIGS. 5 and 6 are detail views of an embodiment having a resilient spring lever, and I FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic detail view of a simplified embodiment showing the features of FIGS. 5 and 6.

The antislip cam of FIG. 1 consists of a plate 3, the outer end 5 of which is bent up and provided with a slit 4 for pushing through fixing elements, such as straps, bands or the like. The ends 5 bent up are spaced apart a breadth corresponding to that of the boot, the plate breadth corresponding to that of the boot ankle breadth.

Below the plate 3 two bearings 9,) are provided onit in which an axle 2 is rotatably mounted, firmly connected to the cam 1, said cam being taken along upon'rotation of the-axle.2. The adjustable lever '11 serves for pivoting the axle 2, said adjustable lever being fixed to its part projecting over the bearing 9.

Handling the antislip cam according to FIG. 1 is very simple. The user fixes the plate 3 by means of straps and bands pushed through the slits 4 in the bent up part 5, said cam I being brought into a position parallel to the bottom surface by pivoting the lever 11. If the operative position is required, the fixed adjustable lever 11 is released and tilted, being brought into the second resting position provided and fixed therein. Thus the user may easily and quickly bring the antislip cam into operative position or back into resting position at any time in accordance with varying soil conditions.

In order to adapt the plate to a specified boot breadth, the plate consists of two parts 3, 3 adjustable to one another, said part 3 providing downward screw bolts 6 which are passed in longitudinal slots 7 in the other part 3 and may be locked by means of nuts 8 in any desired position. The axle 2 mounted below the plate parts 3, 3' is provided with a screw thread 12 projecting from the bearing 10 and having a wing nut 13 or the like on the end facing away from said adjustable lever. Thus the axle 2 may be adapted to any breadth of the plate and be locked by clamping by means of the wing nut 13 brought up to FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the embodiment according to the bearing 10, said adjustable lever 11 being simultaneously pressed onto the bearing 9.

For locking, the axle 2 is tetragonal in section in an embodiment according to FIGS. 3 and 4. The space between the bottom surface of the plate 3 and the chamfered axle 2 is such that a flat lock bolt pivotable about a pivot bolt 15 on the plate 3 may be inserted, .thus fixing the axle 2 with the cam 1. All other parts correspond to those described hereinbefore.

A resilient fixing of the cam 1 may also be performed by providing an adjustable lever of resilient material. This is shown in the embodiment according to FIG. 5. For engaging the adjustable lever 11, an L-shaped lug 24 is arranged on the bent up wall 5 of the plate 3 which forms an U open at the top together with this plate wall 5. The outer edge of said lug 24 is chamfered, forming a notch 25 at the left and at the right, as shown in FIG. 6, in which the resilient adjustable lever 11 fixedly connected to the axle 2 and the cam 1 may engage. In order to disengage the adjustable lever from this notch, it need only be pressed away from the outer edge of the lug 24 and be pivoted. Again the space between the two notches 25 corresponds to the operative or resting position of the cam l.

A particularly simple and cheap embodiment of an antislip device of the invention having a resilient adjustable lever 11 5 jacent to the front of the heel of a boot or shoe for walking on ground covered with ice or hard snow, comprising plate means including upstanding sidewalls having slits for receiving shoe fastening elements, said plate means being adjustable widthwise, cam means having pins or teeth being pivotably l0 journaled on said plate means, said cam means adapted to be consists in that the plate is shaped like that in FIG. 7 instead of forming the L-shaped lug 24 of FIGS. 5 and 6. Here the upper part 5 of the plate 3 is chamfered outwards so that its end, in side view, is S or Z-shaped. A slit 27 is provided in the upperlying horizontal flat strip 26, the size of said slit corresponding to the slit 4 in the wall 5 of the plate 3, which serves for passing through the fixing elements, too. Like in the preceding example, the outer edge of the horizontal strip is chamfered and forms notches 25, the function of which is the same.

As may be seen from the aforesaid embodiments, it is possible to provide the pivot axle 2 above or below the plate. In general, the first embodiment will serve for mens boots, the second for ladies boots. in the latter the heel height is usually larger than that of mens boots; for this reason the axle 2 will be provided as deep as possible so as to make the cam 2 not too high, thus increasing the pitching moment.

Changes may be made in various respects and within the selectively pivoted into or from an operative position in which said pins or teeth project below the plate means, bearings positioned in said plate means, said cam axle means pivotally received in said bearings and having said cam means fastened thereto, said axle means being located generally above said plate means, and lever means operatively connected to said cam means so as to pivot the latter selectively in the operative and inoperative positions and to lock the cam means in either of the two positions.

2. An antislip cam as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pivotable axle means is positioned below said plate means, said axle means between said bearings being chamfered tetragonally in section, and a lock bolt on said plate means adapted to be pivotally positioned between said chamfered axle means position and the plate means so as to lock said axle means against pivotal motion.

3. An antislip cam as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the upstanding sidewalls of said plate means includes a generally L-shaped lug element, said lug element forming with the adjacent plate means position an upwardly opening U- shaped configuration, the upper edge of said lug element being externally chamfered and including notches, and said lever means being adaptedto adjustably engage said notches.

4. An antislip cam as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the upstanding sidewalls of said plate means is bent outwardly so as to provide a chamfered edge surface, slit means in said outwardly bent sidewall portion for receiving said shoe fastening elements, said chamfered edge surface including notches, and said lever means comprising a resilient lever member adapted to engage said notches. 

1. An antislip cam adapted to be releasably fastened adjacent to the front of the heel of a boot or shoe for walking on ground covered with ice or hard snow, comprising plate means including upstanding sidewalls having slits for receiving shoe fastening elements, said plate means being adjustable widthwisE, cam means having pins or teeth being pivotably journaled on said plate means, said cam means adapted to be selectively pivoted into or from an operative position in which said pins or teeth project below the plate means, bearings positioned in said plate means, said cam axle means pivotally received in said bearings and having said cam means fastened thereto, said axle means being located generally above said plate means, and lever means operatively connected to said cam means so as to pivot the latter selectively in the operative and inoperative positions and to lock the cam means in either of the two positions.
 2. An antislip cam as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pivotable axle means is positioned below said plate means, said axle means between said bearings being chamfered tetragonally in section, and a lock bolt on said plate means adapted to be pivotally positioned between said chamfered axle means position and the plate means so as to lock said axle means against pivotal motion.
 3. An antislip cam as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the upstanding sidewalls of said plate means includes a generally L-shaped lug element, said lug element forming with the adjacent plate means position an upwardly opening U-shaped configuration, the upper edge of said lug element being externally chamfered and including notches, and said lever means being adapted to adjustably engage said notches.
 4. An antislip cam as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the upstanding sidewalls of said plate means is bent outwardly so as to provide a chamfered edge surface, slit means in said outwardly bent sidewall portion for receiving said shoe fastening elements, said chamfered edge surface including notches, and said lever means comprising a resilient lever member adapted to engage said notches. 